Now, here come the Mexican airplanes

The U.S. has built nine navigation systems for Mexico and Canada under the controversial Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in an apparent first step toward establishing the satellite infrastructure needed to create a North American air traffic control system.

The defining vision for North American air traffic control was articulated by then-Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta in a Sept. 27, 2004, statement announcing, “We must make flying throughout North America as seamless as possible if we are to truly reap the rewards of the expanding global economy.”

Additionally, the U.S., working through NATT, has built four Canadian WAAS stations, at Iqaluit, Gander, Winnipeg and Goose Bay.

WND also has learned discussions are under way to create a North American Air Traffic Control System, complete with Federal Aviation Administration issuance of WAAS certifications for Canadian and Mexican airspace. According to a government official who specializes in satellite technology applied to air traffic control systems, it would involve Canadian and Mexican foreign nationals not only hosting but operating and maintaining U.S. air navigation equipment as part of a continental Global Navigation Satellite System.

The vision would permit Mexican and Canadian air traffic controllers to operate within North American airspace as if they simply were operating from a U.S. city.

The plan is to feed ADSB information on all participating aircraft to Mexican and Canadian air traffic control.

WAAS uses a network of ground reference systems – Wide-Area Reference Systems – to establish accurate vertical and horizontal identification of aircraft location to assist air traffic controllers in precisely managing air space, including the ability to space aircraft accurately in take-off and landing, as well as while en route from location to location.

‘Remove the barriers’

FAA and SPP-affiliated government officials deny any intent to integrate Mexican or Canadian airlines into the domestic structure of U.S. air travel, emphasizing instead the need to facilitate international travel between the three countries and coordinate air traffic control for U.S. airlines needing to fly into or over Mexican or Canadian airspace.

Peters said, “I look forward to the day when it is as easy for an airline to start new service between Tucson and Montreal or Monterrey as it is between Tucson and Austin.”

Knowledgeable government sources tell WND on background that the vision of a North American seamless airspace is also designed to permit Mexican and Canadian airlines in the future to operate from within domestic U.S. air terminals, serving locations within the U.S. on a competitive basis with U.S.-domiciled airlines.

Peters announced at the April 27 meeting that, “With globalization intensifying the pressures on all our economies, it has never been more important to connect these networks, coordinate our policies, and remove the barriers that keep large and growing volumes of goods and travelers from moving efficiently across our borders. In the United States, we see the opportunities in aviation as especially promising.”

Airservices Australian, an Australian airspace management organization, also intends to leverage the FAA investment in GBAS technology to advance what ultimately will become a world-standard satellite-based airspace navigation system.

The CAN/MEX/USA working group can further be traced to October 1993, when the International Civil Aviation Organization completed its Global Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management Implementation and Transition Plan.

In an FAA webpage reserved for discussing international activities, the FAA says the activities organized under the North American Aviation Trilateral reaffirm the FAA goal to establish regional cooperation for seamless air navigation in North America, consistent with the vision articulated by Mineta and SPP.

Are you a representative of the media who would like to interview the author of this story? Let us know.